
Haiti police raid gang leader Barbecue's stronghold in capital
The government of Haiti says police have launched a large-scale operation in a shantytown controlled by powerful gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, who is widely known as Barbecue. The authorities say several gang members have been killed in the Lower Delmas area of the capital Port-au-Prince.Local reports say military drones carrying explosives are being used in the operation.Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé praised the assault. He said it was the work of a special task force created two days ago to tackle insecurity.
Chérizier, aged 47, is the feared leader of Viv Ansam (Live Together), a coalition of gangs that control much of the city. It is not clear whether Kenyan police officers deployed in Haiti last year to help fight the gangs are involved in the security operation.Last week, a Kenyan police officer - who was on patrol with the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission - was killed in a confrontation with gang members.The men fighting gang leader Barbecue for power in HaitiOn patrol with Kenyan forces inside Haiti's gang warzoneGang control in Port-au-Prince has led to an almost complete breakdown of law and order, the collapse of health services and emergence of a food security crisis.More than 5,500 people were killed in gang-related violence in the Caribbean nation in 2024 and more than a million people have fled their homes.Haiti's transitional presidential council, the body created to re-establish democratic order, has made little progress towards organising long-delayed elections.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The National
12 hours ago
- The National
Groundhog Day as John Swinney tries to justify SNP's failed strategy
Trying to claim defeat in Hamilton as some sort of improvement from the disastrous Westminster election defeat is beyond parody. John Swinney was all over the by-election in Hamilton – he has to take the blame for ignoring the campaign wishes of the local SNP members, and focusing instead on Reform while letting Labour slip through the middle. READ MORE: Activists question John Swinney's independence strategy after by-election loss Let's be clear: Labour had a rubbish candidate and campaign but still out-polled the SNP. Yet again support for independence far outstrips support for the SNP – why? Is it because everyone can see that under Swinney there is no hope for independence with the SNP? Even former MSP/ MP/leadership lackey Anne McLaughlin is claiming online that the SNP can't campaign on independence as the party has no plan on how to achieve it! That should wake up SNP members that this party is going nowhere under Swinney. We are getting a repeat performance of his last failed attempt at leadership. Swinney hasn't learnt the lessons of why he lost in 2003 – so I don't hold out much hope of any review of this latest by-election failure. Until Swinney – or a capable leader – brings forward plans for independence then the SNP is just another centrist party like any of the London-led parties. It's time for a real change in the SNP, not a retread of Swinney's tired old campaigning nonsense. Alex Beckett Paisley DIDN'T Stan Grodynski nail it on the head (Letters, Jun 8)? My only reservation is that I have scant faith this SNP party leadership will heed his message. I hope I'm wrong, because there's still time to kick the necessary action into gear before the 2026 election, which really is the party's last-chance saloon. But we'd need to see the Scottish Government attacking Westminster policy where it acts against Scottish interests. We'd need to see the blame for perceived policy failures in Scotland laid at Westminster's door, where real responsibility lies. Remember that we are where we are after more than 300 years of English rule, not just the 18 years of SNP government that Starmer likes to ram down our throats at PMQs in protection of his establishment exploiting us. READ MORE: Do the SNP no longer have a strategy for gaining independence? We'd need to show the funding limitations of the Barnett formula, which leave us having having to make choices between rather than for Scotland's needs. We'd need to trumpet the party's success areas and remind Scottish voters of the many benefits the party has delivered in their years of government, which are limited by devolution. And we'd need to highly the many areas on which we differ in cultural and political outlook: weapons of mass destruction, nuclear power, the EU, supporting genocide in Gaza, global trade, human rights, immigration, poverty, drugs, equality of opportunity, and equality generally, ambition for future prosperity, and more. There are so many generally held areas of difference. We need to reinforce that none of the three main right-wing Unionist parties can truly serve the interests of Scots, they merely wish to maintain the Union's exploitation of us. READ MORE: What is the rationale behind the SNP's 'wheesht about indy' stance? We need to attack the Union status quo with a vengeance, diligently all the way to the 2026 election. The SNP need to engage with the wider movement and make it the irrefutable de facto referendum that the democracy-denying Starmer-led Labour government denies us, in flagrant breach of our fundamental rights as the historic nation we are, and supposedly in partnership within the UK union, rather than the colonised territory that binds us to England's domination. The clock is ticking. Let's hope Stan's party is settling into its starting blocks, the starting gun poised for firing. Let's get the campaign going with that bang! Jim Taylor Scotland I CALLED it in this paper some time ago. 'Lessons will be learned'. This was the cry from the hapless Angus Robertson, soon followed by others. Well, I know someone who has already learned a lesson. ME. I did not think the result would bother me either way, but after thinking on it I came to a sorry conclusion. The SNP have taken away from me my dream of an independent Scotland in my lifetime. Their performance in this week's vote was lacklustre to say the least. How does it feel to lose to an Invisible Man? To me it feels like a betrayal of all I thought the SNP was. Everybody, including the head yins in the SNP, knows the reason for the defeat. It is the same reason we have had to put up with since 2014. No action on independence. READ MORE: SNP must turn support for independence into 'real political action', says Swinney Before you say 'Old John has thrown his toys out of the pram', let me assure you that is not the case. I have thrown the pram away with the toys in it! I have decided that I will not be banging my head against a brick wall any more. I am doing a Mhairi Black and giving politics a miss. Until there is a change of leadership in the SNP and a rock-solid commitment on independence, I am taking a Sabbatical. I am so upset that I feel the very heart and soul have been ripped from me. If all of you out there are happy just to carry on like this, then I am happy for you! We might as well call an election and get it over with because 2026 is not going to be pretty. A Unionist government awaits us in Holyrood. The SNP are quite happy to trundle along and ask us to vote for them at elections. They just want to play nice politics and hope for a referendum being given to us by Westminster. Well, I've had enough of all their weasel words. The SNP have no desire to make any progress on independence. If they had, then the promise of 2026 being a defining moment would have got us over the line on Thursday. But no, more of the same and look where it got us. Humiliated. I would like to thank The National for all the letters of mine that have been printed and wish all of you who support independence good luck. With this lot in charge of the SNP, you are going to need a lot more than luck! I may return one day when things are different, but at my time of life that is unlikely. I have been worn down by a party that was formed on the bedrock of Scottish independence. It is now a very pale imitation of that! Thank you all. Old John Ayrshire

South Wales Argus
14 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Abergavenny mosque plan could be put on hold at meeting
Monmouthshire council's ruling cabinet agreed in May to grant a 30-year lease to the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association who plan to use the vacant building as a mosque and cultural centre. It would be the county's first mosque. However three councillors have 'called in' the decision meaning it will be reviewed at a special meeting of the council's place scrutiny committee. The nine member, cross party committee, will have to decide whether to accept the cabinet's original decision to grant the lease or if they agree there were flaws in the decision making process they can ask the cabinet to look at the decision again. The committee also has the power to refer the decision to the full council, which would then have to look at how the decision was made and decide whether to accept it or send it back to the cabinet to reconsider. If the cabinet does have to take the decision again it must do so within ten working days and will be asked to consider the comments made but can stick by its original decision, amend it or overturn it. Conservative councillors Louise Brown and Rachel Buckler, who represent Shirenewton and Devauden in the south of Monmouthshire, and Llanelly Hill independent Simon Howarth called the decision, made by the Labour-led cabinet, in for review. Their request highlights three grounds for doing so which are a claimed 'lack of proper scrutiny/due process and community consultation', how the building was marketed and their concerns over 'best value' at the £6,000 a year lease. When the cabinet agreed to grant the lease it was stated the accepted bid was the highest scoring on the application process that was intended to explore opportunities to maximise social benefit and generate a financial return from an otherwise empty building. The cabinet was also told 30-year leases were common and the cabinet had declared the building, that was last used as a pupil referral unit, as surplus in November when it granted the council's landlord services permission to market the building as available to lease. It was built by Scottish American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, though it closed as a library in 2015 when the service transferred to the town hall. Councillors were also told commercial uses, which could be allowed under the restrictions of the building's covenant, had been considered and the agreed rent was said to be in the context of 'significant investment' required, from the lease holders, in the 120-year-old grade II listed building. The call in also states 'community engagement is required' as no planning permission is needed as there is no change in the use class of the building. The special meeting will take place, at Monmouthshire County Hall in Usk, on Wednesday, June 11 at 5.30pm.


Wales Online
15 hours ago
- Wales Online
DWP announces it will offer £300 payment to millions in one income bracket
DWP announces it will offer £300 payment to millions in one income bracket The government has confirmed more people will get support - here is everything you need to know Millions of people will get a winter fuel payment this year in a major government U-turn (Image: Getty ) In a significant policy reversal, millions of individuals will receive a winter fuel payment this year. It has been confirmed that pensioners earning £35,000 or less will be eligible for a payment of up to £300. This slightly reverses a policy implemented previously which introduced means-testing for the payment. This change drastically reduced the number of pensioners receiving the aid from 11.4 million to approximately 1.5 million. The payment, typically distributed in November or December to assist with heating costs during the chillier months, had previously been automatic. The alteration was widely attributed to the Labour Party's plummeting public support following its general election win. For money-saving tips, sign up to our Money newsletter here Earlier this year, the government hinted at a partial U-turn, stating that more people would receive the payment but did not provide further details until now. With the new adjustments, around nine million individuals will now qualify for the payment, costing £1.25bn. This is expected to be offset by reclaiming the payment from higher-income pensioners through HMRC. Here are the changes you need to know about and who will qualify under the new rules. Article continues below What are the current rules for the winter fuel payment and what changed in 2024/25? Winter fuel payments, previously a universal benefit for everyone over the state pension age, are undergoing significant changes. The newly elected Labour-led government last year declared that it would introduce means tests, limiting payments to individuals on benefits and pension credit as a cost-saving measure. The move faced substantial backlash, accused of adversely affecting the most vulnerable, and was believed to have influenced the party's devastating performance in the local elections. However, there's been a shift in stance recently. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed an adjustment to the approach, indicating that more pensioners will be eligible for the winter fuel allowance this year, though it will not be extended to everyone. Reeves relayed to journalists at a briefing, "more people will get winter fuel payment this winter" and promised that additional information would be made available "as soon as we possibly can." What's changing under the updated regulations? This Monday, June 9, it was officially announced that any pensioner in England and Wales earning £35,000 or less annually is entitled to receive the winter fuel payment. This amendment expands coverage to a vast number of pensioners – about nine million or roughly three-quarters – as per the statements from ministers. The upcoming changes are set to cost approximately £1.25 billion in England and Wales, with the introduction of means-testing for the Winter Fuel Payment expected to save around £450 million, pending approval from the Office for Budget Responsibility compared to the current system of universal payments. These costs will be factored into the forthcoming Budget and included in the next OBR forecast. In response to queries about how these adjustments will be financed, the government has stated that it will "take decisions on funding in the round at that forecast to ensure the government's non-negotiable fiscal rules are met", and emphasised that this would "not lead to permanent additional borrowing." There is no need for individuals to take any action, as those eligible will automatically receive the payment this winter. For those with incomes above the threshold, the funds will be reclaimed by HMRC. The automatic payment of £200 per household, or £300 for households with someone over 80, will be distributed this winter. Additionally, over 12 million pensioners throughout the UK will gain from the Triple Lock, which promises a State Pension increase of up to £1,900 during this parliament. The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has made it clear that the government's choice to target Winter Fuel Payments was a challenging yet necessary measure considering the situation inherited from the previous administration. She said: "Targeting Winter Fuel Payments was a tough decision, but the right decision because of the inheritance we had been left by the previous government. It is also right that we continue to means-test this payment so that it is targeted and fair, rather than restoring eligibility to everyone including the wealthiest. "But we have now acted to expand the eligibility of the Winter Fuel Payment so no pensioner on a lower income will miss out. This will mean over three quarters of pensioners receiving the payment in England and Wales later this winter." Article continues below For those pensioners above the £35,000 earnings mark, approximately two million throughout England and Wales, the full amount of the winter fuel payment they are due will be systematically reclaimed via the PAYE system or through their self-assessment tax return. No one will be required to contact HMRC for registration or any additional steps in this process. There will also be an option for pensioners who prefer to forego the payment entirely, with forthcoming details on how to opt out.